The word “civilization” evokes images of stone walls, monuments, and roads, but civilization is more than robust physical infrastructure. It involves taming human nature, creating a culture of art and science, and organizing the community through systems of governance, economics, and social relations.
Civilization is the product of a process that begins with individual hunter-gatherers and tribes grouping into villages and then cities. Once these urban centers developed, they became nexuses of production, power, and culture, but sustaining them was not easy. They required constant manipulation of the environment to extract energy in the form of firewood, materials for building like stone, food, and water. And they were especially sensitive to climate fluctuations such as floods and droughts, which could destroy crops or make water supplies scarce.
To overcome these challenges, early civilizations developed a range of complex technologies in the form of pottery, metalwork, and weaving. They also cultivated and protected certain plants that provided the raw material for food and medicines. But it was the invention of writing that revolutionized civilizations, allowing them to communicate over long distances and establish a body of written knowledge about their gods and god-like creatures.
While scholars debate what exactly constitutes a civilization, most agree that a key characteristic is the emergence of city-states that support dense populations of people with specialized jobs and careers. In addition to a physical infrastructure that requires sophisticated building techniques and materials, cities require social infrastructures, including division of labor, systems of taxation, and hierarchies that reflect wealth and power. Cities also demand a level of cooperation that would not be possible in a nomadic society.
Early civilizations also developed a sense of fairness, which was probably motivated by the need to sustain a high level of living and to deal with conflict and shortages. This was likely a combination of practical considerations, such as ensuring that the best hunters got to shoot at game and the best handcrafters could produce more beautiful or functional items for the community, and an acknowledgment that some individuals were stronger or smarter than others.
This concept of fairness is reflected in the way that many modern societies divide their population into different classes, such as middle-class and poor. It is also reflected in the way that some of the most important material inventions have brought civilization within reach of millions who, before their discovery, were excluded from it altogether. Consider, for example, the difference between a coolie who draws a rickshaw for sixteen hours a day and a taxi driver.
It should be emphasized that no single civilization had all of these features. However, a list such as this one can help students think through the process of how towns turned into cities and civilizations. It is also useful in reminding students that studying history is an interpretative activity and that historians may disagree with each other’s interpretations. But the scholarly consensus that there are characteristics common to civilizations is an important step in understanding how they evolved and grew.